Fig 4.

DSS compounds reduce the levels of cccDNA and DP-rcDNA in HepDES19 cells. Upon withdrawal of tetracycline, HepDES19 cells were left untreated (UNT) or treated with CCC-0975 (A) or CCC-0346 (B) at the indicated concentrations; tetracycline-free medium was changed every other day with fresh compound supplementation. The concentration of DMSO in all experimental groups was normalized at 0.1%. The cells were harvested at day 12, and viral RNA (top), core DNA (middle), and Hirt DNAs (DP-rcDNA and cccDNA) (bottom) were extracted and analyzed by Northern blotting and Southern blotting, respectively. Shorter exposure of the Hirt DNA blot was used for the quantitative determination of DP-rcDNA signals. The relative intensity of the viral RNA or DNA species in each sample is expressed as a percentage of that from untreated cells and is indicated below each blot.